Back To The Materials

I often find myself sorely tempted.

Tempted by the ease of worksheets. Tempted by children who catch on quickly and only need one or two goes with a new concept before moving onto abstract math. Tempted by how little teaching I can do when I let those sheets of paper teach for me.

Tempted to say, "Forget Montessori- we can do just fine without."

Of course, we could do just fine without. I have many friends (most of my real-life friends) who homeschool successfully without anything that looks anything like Montessori. Their children are intelligent and amazing beings who are thriving on whatever methods their parents have chosen. I have friends that I don't even know what type of homeschooling they use! Clearly, we could do just fine without.

But then...

Then we run into a problem with traditional methods. We run into mistakes in mental math. Problems with directionality of letters. We run into kids taking short cuts. Tantrums because they don't want to do their work. Assignments (not works) incomplete.

We run into a home environment that has moved away from the self-directed into the me-directed.

And then Tim gently reminds me why we have chosen this way. Why we have chosen the way of discovery. Why we have chosen a way without paper clutter. Why we want our children to see, touch, and understand.

Tim gently guides me back to the materials as he has so many students before me.

In the fingering of beads and the tracing of letters, we all start to breathe just a little easier. Learning begins to flow more naturally again.